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Matt Dusk
Matt Dusk (born November 19, 1978) is a Canadian jazz musician/vocalist. He has two certified gold albums: Two Shots and Good News, and three number one radio hits: "Back in Town," "All About Me", and "Good News." Matthew-Aaron Dusk was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 19, 1978. From an early age, Dusk wanted to become a performer. At the age of seven, he was accepted into St. Michael's Choir School, where he remained for eleven years. Originally Dusk performed opera and classical music but after hearing Tony Bennett, Bob Fenton, and Sarah Vaughan records at the age of 17 he began to change his musical style and direction. In 1998, he won the top spot in the Canadian National Exhibition Rising Star Competition, beating out 654 contestants. However, Dusk was on a path to take over the family business, and in 1998 went to Toronto's York University to study economics. After spending a year in the economics department, Dusk could not forget his passion for music and in 1999 changed programs to study for a BFA in music, where his emphasis was squarely on jazz and popular music. He studied jazz theory with John Gittins, jazz vocal with Bob Fenton, and attended masterclasses with Oscar Peterson. Dusk was also awarded the university’s Oscar Peterson Scholarship and in 2002 graduated with an honors degree in music. Before Dusk secured a major record deal, he recorded four independent CDs (The Way It Is being the only one re-released thus far), and many of his songs became popular on MP3 websites. In March 2003, he signed a major record deal with Decca Records. In 2004 Dusk was invited to the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas to perform as in-house entertainer throughout the filming of Mark Burnett's reality TV show The Casino on Fox TV. His debut album Two Shots was released on June 5, 2004 and went gold in Canada. The album produced the hit single, "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad", which was written by Bono and The Edge from the Irish rock band U2. This song was also the theme song to The Casino show. Dusk followed up his debut album with a holiday EP entitled "Peace On Earth" which was released November 30, 2005. In January 2006, Dusk traveled to Los Angeles to record his second album Back In Town at Capitol Records fabled Studio A. Here, Dusk recorded with a 58 piece orchestra, conducted by renowned arrangers Patrick Williams and Sammy Nestico, and recorded by Grammy-winning engineer Al Schmitt. Back In Town features a mix of jazz standards and originals, and was released in June 2006. In October 2007, the lead single Back In Town reached Number 1 on the Japanese pop radio charts. Dusk is the first male jazz artist in Japanese history to reach Number 1 on the pop radio charts. This is his second number one hit, the first being 'All About Me' also from the record Back In Town which was achieved in Canada in late 2006. In March 2008, Dusk announced the recording of a new album titled Good News. This album was released on October 27, 2009 in Poland and Canada and Holland (2010) and France (2011). The album features a new direction that vocally pays tribute to the style of swing/crooner jazz era (1940s-1960s) however is produced in a contemporary way. The album is a collection of original material and international #1 hits from around the world. In late 2009, Good News was certified 'gold' in Poland. In 2009 his track "Feels Good" was released as dance hit single remade and remixed by Toronto Electronic Production duo Stereo Martini. In September 2010, the title track Good News reached number one on the charts of French radio station Europe 1. In March 2010, Dusk recorded the soundtrack to the TV series Call Me Fitz featuring Jason Priestly. The series began on September 18, 2010 on HBO, and is now in its fourth season. On August 25, 2010, Dusk recorded a live DVD concert special for PBS which aired in America in December 2010, and across the world in 2011. The concert was recorded live at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada with a 17 piece big band. The DVD was also released as a double CD/DVD. In 2013 Dusk returned to his jazz roots and released his fifth full length studio album entitled, My Funny Valentine: The Chet Baker Songbook . It features an eighty piece orchestra and numerous special guests including: GRAMMY award-winner Arturo Sandoval, JUNO award-winner Guido Basso, JUNO award-nominee Emilie-Claire Barlow, and Straight No Chaser (group) alumn Ryan Ahlwardt. The album pays homage to one of the most popular musicians of the twentieth century, trumpet player and singer Chet Baker. In 2013 Dusk recorded a duet with Edyta Górniak. Their recording of All The Way reached number one on the Empik music charts in Poland. Discography * The Way It Is (2001) * Two Shots (2004) * Peace on Earth (2005) * Back in Town (2006) * Good News (2009) * Live from Las Vegas (2010) * My Funny Valentine: The Chet Baker Songbook (2013) See also *List of jazz musicians *List of Canadian musicians References *class=artist|id=p659890/biography|pure_url=yes}} All Music Biography - last accessed on July 16, 2011 External links * * Category:Vocalists